The President of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, Samo Hribar Milič, says that the Laško brewery was sold by temporary non-strategic owners, which have no experience in supervising such a company. "Heineken will strengthen the beverage business with its know-how in market communication and rebranding. It will also provide stable sources for financing. We expect it to optimize the company regarding production and its brand names. That could lead to the sale of certain brands and to the strengthening of the marketing budgets for the company's other trademarks", added Hribar Milič.

"Heineken is a good buyer"
Economist Jože Mencinger reminded that the sale of Laško would not have been necessary, if the company focused on its brewery business rather than dealing with takeovers and stocks. He added: "Without that nonsense, we still would have had two independent modern breweries: Laško and Union. We also still would have had Fructal and Radenska and several other companies, if it were not for the banks which imposed risky loans and reprogramming. With the government’s help they then destroyed the companies instead of destroying the tycoons."

However Mencinger adds that if the sale had to happen, Dutch Heineken is a good buyer. Heineken will of course collect the profits, but it probably won't destroy or close down the brewery.

"Telekom is in the focus of certain interest groups"
The President of the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce, Gertrud Rantzen, told MMC that the German companies which took part in the privatization processes which have already concluded, say the procedures was open and transparent. As to the reasons why Deutsche Telekom did not submit a purchasing bid for Telekom Slovenija (which surprised many), Rantzen said that the chamber had no information at this moment.

The President of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, Hribar Milič, says the withdrawal of the buyers was quite unusual. He added that the country's politics certainly contributed to the latest development. He said the problems were the distrust in the impartiality of the sales procedure, the lack of understanding, and the political games surrounding the issue connected with staffing, counseling contracts and investments.

The smartest next move the government could make is to stop the sale of Telekom Slovenija, says Jože Mencinger. He also asks: "Why do we need to sell it at all? Out of ideological reasons? Is capitalism under threat? Elsewhere in the world you can also find examples of state-owned or at least partially state-owned telecommunication companies".

Mencinger, who is the author of the petition against the sale of state companies, says the government keeps referring to its debts, its promise to the European Commission, and the withdrawal of politics from the economy. Mencinger warns that selling out of despair will not give any fruit. He is convinced that the European Commission has no right to demand anything, while the government is allowed to interfere in the country's economy under the principles by which it came to power: morally and ethically.